JP6984974B2 - Vehicle door mirror device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle door mirror device, and more particularly to an electronic door mirror device having a built-in image pickup camera.

A driving support system that uses images from an image pickup camera mounted on a vehicle has been put into practical use. For example, a side-view camera can be used to warn of obstacles on the side of the vehicle, a rear-view camera can be used to assist parking behind the vehicle, and a top-view system can be used to display a bird's-eye view of the vehicle to prevent obstacles around the vehicle. We are giving warnings about things.

Vehicles such as automobiles are equipped with a door mirror device for confirming the rear view of the vehicle. A reflective optical mirror that reflects the rear is provided in the housing of the door mirror device, and the driver confirms the rear situation of the vehicle by looking at the image of the optical mirror. However, looking at the door mirror device is momentary, but the driver's line of sight is deviated from the front, which is not always preferable from the viewpoint of safe driving. Therefore, an electronic door mirror device having a built-in image pickup camera in the door mirror device is disclosed so that the driver can check the rear view without turning his / her line of sight (Patent Documents 1 and 2). The image of the rear of the vehicle taken by the image pickup camera is displayed on the monitor in front of the driver's seat, and the driver can check the rear of the vehicle simply by looking at the front monitor.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 05-294183 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-85474

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic door mirror device incorporating a conventional half mirror and an image pickup camera. As shown in FIG. 2, the door mirror device 1 is attached to both sides of the door of the vehicle M and reflects the situation behind the vehicle M. The door mirror device 1 includes a housing 2 having a cavity formed therein, and a half mirror 3 and an image pickup camera 4 are arranged in the housing 2. The half mirror 3 captures an image of the rear of the vehicle, and the driver can recognize the image captured therein. Further, the image pickup camera 4 takes an image of the rear of the vehicle via the half mirror 3, the image data captured is processed by the signal processing circuit 6 via the cable 5, and the processed image is displayed on the monitor 7. To. The driver confirms the situation behind the vehicle by looking at the image on the monitor 7.

However, such a conventional door mirror device has the following problems. The transmittance of the half mirror 3 is about 50%, and it is difficult to take an image at night by the image pickup camera 4. That is, the transmittance is low and sufficient brightness cannot be obtained. In addition, the image pickup camera 4 and the like in the housing 2 can be seen through the half mirror 3, causing a sense of discomfort.

Further, the door mirror device 1 is linked to the ACC (accessory) power supply or the ignition key, and when the ACC power supply is turned off, the monitor 7 is also turned off. Therefore, the display of the monitor 7 cannot be used for safety confirmation at the time of getting off. Further, the transmittance of the half mirror 3 is about 50%, and it may not be possible to sufficiently confirm the rear view by the half mirror 3 especially in a dark environment such as at night. Visually, there is a blind spot, and there is a risk of overlooking an approaching vehicle or the like.

On the other hand, it is also possible to continue the power supply to the door mirror device 1 for a while even after the ACC power is turned off and display the image captured by the image pickup camera 4 on the monitor 7, but this consumes power. Will increase and the battery will be overloaded. Further, when the monitor 7 is a CID (center information display), since the monitor 7 is located at a position opposite to the direction of getting off the vehicle M, it is not easy to use and is not suitable for checking the rear when getting off.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a door mirror device capable of taking an image at night and used for safety confirmation at the time of getting off.

The door mirror device according to the present invention is arranged in front of a housing in which a space is formed, an image pickup camera arranged in the housing, and the image pickup camera in the housing, and at least faces the image pickup camera. It has a mirror whose portion is made of an electrochromic member, and a control means for applying a driving voltage to the electrochromic member to control the transmission rate of the electrochromic member.

In one embodiment, the control means increases the transmittance of the electrochromic member when the drive voltage is applied to the electrochromic member, and increases the transmittance of the electrochromic member when the drive voltage is not applied. Decrease. In certain embodiments, the control means increases the transmittance of the electrochromic member when the ignition switch or ACC power is on and decreases the transmittance of the electrochromic member when the ignition switch or ACC power is off. .. In certain embodiments, the mirror comprises a reflective optical mirror portion and the electrochromic member.

According to the present invention, by using a mirror composed of an electrochromic member, the transmittance of the electrochromic member is increased when the ACC power is turned on, and nighttime imaging by an imaging camera becomes possible, and when the ACC power is turned off, the electrochromic member is used. By lowering the transmittance of the members and mirroring them, it is possible to check the rear when getting off.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the conventional door mirror device. It is a figure which shows the appearance mounting of a door mirror device. It is a figure which shows the structure of the door mirror device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the operation of the door mirror device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the transmittance at the time of ACC on and ACC off of the electrochromic member which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which contrasts the effect when the electrochromic member is used for the door mirror device, and when the half mirror is used. It is a figure which shows the example which the mirror used in the door mirror apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention partially contains an electrochromic member. It is a schematic example which is copied to the door mirror device when the mirror shown in FIG. 7 is used.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The door mirror device according to the present invention is attached to a vehicle such as an automobile to provide a driver or the like with a rear view of the vehicle. The door mirror device according to the present invention may function by itself, or may function in cooperation with other in-vehicle devices or electronic devices. For example, when the vehicle is equipped with a CID (center information display), it can be linked with an electronic device that controls the CID.

Next, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a door mirror device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The door mirror device 100 according to the present embodiment controls the housing 110, the mirror 120 including the electrochromic member arranged in the housing 110, the image pickup camera 130, the drive circuit 140 for driving the electrochromic member, and each part. The controller 150 includes a display unit 160 for displaying an image captured by the image pickup camera 130, and an ACC power supply unit 170 for supplying electric power from a battery or generated electric power to the controller 150 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 110 is attached in the vicinity of the door of the vehicle M. The housing 110 has a space inside, and the mirror 120 and the image pickup camera 130 are housed in this space. The image pickup camera 130 is arranged on the back side of the mirror 120, and the portion of the image pickup camera 130 facing the mirror 120 is composed of at least an electrochromic member.

The electrochromic member is an electro-optical element whose transmittance can be reversibly changed by an applied voltage or current. The electrochromic member is, for example, a first transparent substrate (for example, a glass substrate) having a first transparent conductor formed on the surface and a second transparent substrate having a second transparent conductor formed on the surface. It comprises an electrochromic medium housed in a chamber formed between a substrate (eg, a glass substrate) and a first and second transparent substrate. The electrochromic medium is, for example, tungsten trioxide or the like. When a voltage is applied to the first and second conductors, the transmittance of the electrochromic medium changes, and the first and second transparent substrates function like dimming glass with varying transmittance.

The mirror 120 and the image pickup camera 130 are supported in the housing 110 by a support member (not shown). In one embodiment, the support member slidably supports the mirror 120 so that the angle of the mirror 120 can be adjusted.

The image pickup camera 130 includes a lens and an image pickup element. The portion where the lens faces the mirror 120 is composed of an electrochromic member, and when the transmittance of the electrochromic member is high, the image pickup camera 130 takes an image of the rear of the vehicle via the electrochromic member. Further, when the transmittance of the electrochromic member is low, the electrochromic member is mirrored, an image of the rear of the vehicle is projected on the electrochromic member, and at the same time, it becomes difficult to visually recognize the internal image pickup camera 130 from the outside of the housing 110.

The drive circuit 140 is electrically connected to the electrochromic member of the mirror 120 via the signal line 142. The signal line 142 is connected to, for example, the first and second conductors of the electrochromic member and supplies a driving voltage to the first and second conductors. This drive voltage is output in response to the drive control signal S from the controller 150.

The ACC power supply unit 170 supplies electric power to the controller 150 in response to the operation of the ignition key or the ignition button. When the controller 150 is supplied with power from the ACC power supply unit 170, the controller 150 executes a power-up sequence and then becomes operable. When the ACC power supply is turned on, the controller 150 outputs a drive control signal S defining the drive voltage applied to the electrochromic member to the drive circuit 140, and the drive circuit 140 outputs a drive voltage corresponding to the drive control signal S. It is applied to the electrochromic member to change the transmission rate of the electrochromic member. For example, as the drive voltage applied to the electrochromic member increases, the transmittance increases, and as the drive voltage decreases, the transmittance decreases. The controller 150 generates a drive control signal S so that a preset drive voltage is applied to the electrochromic member, and the electrochromic member is adjusted to a preset transmittance.

Further, the controller 150 is connected to the image pickup camera 130 via the signal line 152. The controller 150 controls the on / off of the image pickup camera 130 via the signal line 152, further receives the image data captured by the image pickup camera 130 via the signal line 152, and performs necessary image processing on the received image data. The applied and processed image data is provided to the display unit 160.

In one embodiment, the controller 150 comprises a microcontroller including ROM / RAM and / or an image processing processor and the like. The controller 150 can control the operation of the electrochromic member by executing a program stored in ROM / RAM or the like.

The display unit 160 receives the image of the rear of the vehicle captured by the image pickup camera 130 via the controller 150 and displays it. For example, the display unit 160 is a CID housed in an instrument panel in front of the driver's seat, for example.

Next, the operation of the door mirror device of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow of FIG. When the driver operates the ignition key and the ACC power is turned on in conjunction with this (S100), the controller 150 in an operable state is a drive control signal for controlling the transmittance of the electrochromic member. S is output to the drive circuit 140, and a drive voltage is supplied to the electrochromic member (S102). When a driving voltage is applied to the electrochromic member, the transmittance increases (S104), for example, the transmittance of the electrochromic member becomes about 70% or more, and the electrochromic member becomes transparent. As a result, the image pickup camera located on the back side of the electrochromic member can easily take an image through the electrochromic member, and can take an image even in a dark environment at night.

On the other hand, when the ACC power supply is turned off, the operation of all electronic circuits is stopped. That is, the operation of the controller 150, the drive circuit 140, and the image pickup camera 130 is stopped, and therefore the drive voltage is not supplied to the electrochromic member, or the applied drive voltage becomes zero (S112). As a result, the transmittance of the electrochromic member is reduced and mirrored (S114). FIG. 5 shows an example of the transmittance of the electrochromic member when the ACC power supply is on and off.

FIG. 6 shows the effect of using the electrochromic member of this embodiment as a mirror in comparison with a half mirror. According to this embodiment, when a driving voltage is applied to the electrochromic member, that is, when the ACC power supply is turned on, the transmittance of the electrochromic member increases to about 70% or more. Therefore, it becomes possible to take an image at night by the image pickup camera 130. Further, even at night, by processing the captured rear image, it is possible to sense the presence or absence of an approaching vehicle. On the other hand, when a half mirror is used, it is difficult to take an image at night with an image pickup camera because the transmittance is about 50%.

When no voltage is applied to the electrochromic member, i.e. when the ACC power supply is off, the transmittance of the electrochromic member drops to about 10% or less, and the electrochromic member is mirrored like a reflection mirror. Therefore, it functions like a normal reflection mirror and can be used for rearward confirmation when getting off the vehicle, for example. In addition, the inside of the housing is not transparent, which does not cause a sense of discomfort in terms of design. On the other hand, when a half mirror is used, the transmittance is about 50%, so that the inside of the housing can be seen through, which causes a sense of discomfort in terms of design. Furthermore, especially in a dark environment such as at night, the image reflected on the half mirror is also dark, which is insufficient for checking backward when getting off.

Next, a preferable example used for the door mirror device of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the mirror 120. It is possible to configure the entire mirror 120 with an electrochromic member, but in this example, as shown in the figure, a part of the mirror 120 is composed of the electrochromic member 120A, and the rest has normal reflectance. It is composed of a high reflection mirror 120B. In this case, it should be noted that the electrochromic member 120A is configured in the region facing the image pickup camera 130.

FIG. 8A shows a rear image projected on the door mirror device when the ACC power is turned on when the mirror 120 shown in FIG. 7 is used, and FIG. 8B shows a rear image projected when the ACC power is turned off. Shows. Since the transmittance of the electrochromic member 120A is 70% or more when the ACC power is turned on, the image pickup camera 130 transmits the electrochromic member 120A and captures an image of the rear of the vehicle. An image of the rear of the vehicle is projected on the reflection mirror 120B, which is the other region. When the ACC power is turned off, the transmittance of the electrochromic member 120A is mirrored at 10% or less, so that the rear image of the vehicle is projected together with the reflection mirror 120B.

Next, a modification of the present invention will be described. In the above embodiment, the door mirror device is attached so as to project from the side portion of the vehicle M as shown in FIG. 2, but the door mirror device may be attached so as to be embedded in the vehicle interior. For example, the door mirror device is attached to the front pillar portion 200 between the windshield of the vehicle and the front door, as shown in FIG. The electrochromic member 120A is arranged in front of the image pickup camera or in the front pillar portion 200. Also in this case, by mirroring the electrochromic member 120A when the ACC power is turned off, it can be used for rearward confirmation when getting off. Further, the door mirror device may be attached to the rear pillar portion of the vehicle so that the rear image can be confirmed through the electrochromic member when disembarking from the rear seat.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the transmittance of the electrochromic member is kept constant when the ACC power is turned on is shown, but the controller 150 transmits the electrochromic member based on the detection result from the illuminance sensor that senses the brightness outside the vehicle. The rate may be changed according to the brightness. For example, in a very dark environment, increase the drive voltage so that the transmittance of the electrochromic member is higher, and in a slightly dim environment, increase the drive voltage so that the transmittance is slightly higher. You may do it.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various aspects of the present invention are described within the scope of the claims. It can be transformed and changed.

100: Door mirror device 110: Housing 120: Mirror 120A: Electrochromic member 120B: Reflective optical mirror 130: Imaging camera 140: Drive circuit 142, 152: Signal line 150: Controller 160: Display unit 170: ACC power supply unit

Claims (4)

A housing with a space inside and
An image pickup camera arranged in the housing and
A mirror arranged in front of the image pickup camera in the housing and having at least a portion facing the image pickup camera made of an electrochromic member.
It has a control means for applying a driving voltage to the electrochromic member and controlling the transmittance of the electrochromic member.
The control means increases the transmission rate of the electrochromic member by supplying the driving voltage to the electrochromic member in response to the ignition switch or the ACC power supply being turned on, and the ignition switch or the ACC power supply is turned off. A vehicle door mirror device that reduces the transmission rate of the electrochromic member by stopping the supply of the driving voltage to the electrochromic member in response to the above. A housing with a space inside and
An image pickup camera arranged in the housing and
A mirror arranged in front of the image pickup camera in the housing,
It has a control means for applying a driving voltage to the electrochromic member and controlling the transmittance of the electrochromic member.
The mirror has a region composed of an electrochromic member and a region composed of a reflecting optical mirror, and the region composed of the electrochromic member is a region facing the image pickup camera, which is a vehicle. For door mirror device. The control means increases the transmittance of the electrochromic member when the driving voltage is applied to the electrochromic member, and decreases the transmittance of the electrochromic member when the driving voltage is not applied. 2. The vehicle door mirror device according to 2. The control means, the ignition switch or ACC power increases the transmittance of the electrochromic element When on, when the ignition switch or ACC power is turned off, reducing the transmittance of the electrochromic element, according to claim 2 or vehicle door mirror device according to 3.

Images